Process and apparatus for continuously refining running lengths of materials

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for the continuous refining, preferably dyeing, of wide guided lengths of materials, is used in hot treating liquids on textiles, such as woven and knitted fabrics, tufted fabrics, fibrous fleeces, joined yarns, teasel bands and the like. The apparatus is particularly characterized in that a treating liquid is heated separately from the material being treated at least to the boiling temperature in the case of aqueous solutions. The liquid is guided in the same direction as the material with adjustable amount of flow. There is a low ratio of the weight of the liquid flowing per time unit to the material or there is the smallest possible charge of the liquid simultaneously taking part in the treatment.

United States Patent 91 Windhorst Mar. 27, 1973 PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR I CONTINUOUSLY REFINING RUNNING LENGTHS OF MATERIALS [75] Inventor: Christian August Meier Windhorst,

Hamburg, Germany [73] Assignee: Artos Dru-lug.

Meier-Windhorst Kommanditgesellschaft, Hamburg, Germany [22] Filed: Oct. 22, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 83,182

Related US. Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No. 802,314, Jan. 31, 1969.

[52] US. Cl. ..68/5 D, 68/20, 68/181 R [51] Int. Cl ..B05c 9/14 [58] Field of Search ..68/5 D, 5 E, 20, 181 R; 8/149.1

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,115,630 4/1938 Gruber Rehenburg et 211. ....68/5 D X 6/1953 Belcher ..68/5 D X 12/1926 Cohoe ..68/5 D Primary Examiner-William 1. Price Attorney-Richards & Geier [57] ABSTRACT An apparatus for the continuous refining, preferably dyeing, of wide guided lengths of materials, is used in hot treating liquids on textiles, such as woven and' knitted fa'brics, tufted fabrics, fibrous fleeces, joined yarns, teasel bands and the like. The apparatus is particularly characterized in that a treating liquid is heated separately from the material being treated at least to the boiling temperature in the case of aqueous solutions. The liquid is guided in the same direction as the material with adjustable amount of flow. There is a low ratio of the weight of the liquid flowing per time unit to the material or there is the smallest possible charge of the liquid simultaneously taking part in the treatment.

1 Claim, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTEUHARZYISH SHEET 1 OF 2 n wl PATENTFUmzmrs 3,722,233 SHEET 2 or 2 4} z iL FIG.2

REFINING RUNNING LENGTHS OF MATERIALS This application is a division of a pending application Ser. No. 802,314.

This invention relates to an apparatus for the continuous refining, preferably continuous dyeing, of wide guided lengths of materials, particularly textiles, such as woven and knitted fabrics, tufted fabrics, fibrous fleeces, joined yams, leased band and the like, the treatment taking place in or by the use of hot treating liquids. It is known in the art to refine moving textiles and the like by continuously applying a constant amount of a liquid upon the material being treated in a treating apparatus, such as an impregnating foulard, a precisely dosed amount of the treating substance being added to the liquid.

In this process the volume of the bath through which the material passes must be as little as possible so that the liquid can be quickly renewed from the continuously added treating substance. This avoids substantial changes in the concentration which could be produced since the material being treated absorbs from the treating bath a comparatively higher percentage of the treating substance than of the filling or solution liquid. When there is a greater volume of the continuously circulating treating liquid and thus when this liquid remains for a longer time period in the treating container, the liquid becomes poorer, i.e., there is a diminution of concentration and consequently a different treating effect at the end of the material than at its beginning, particularly in the case of long lengths, this efiect being called lack of uniform ends.

This process of applying a dosage of the treating substance which is usually carried out at low temperatures, makes necessary, with the exception of the cold hanging process, a subsequent heat treatment of the material with the treating substance which follows in a suitable manner the earlier treatment. As in the pad steam process, the subsequent treatment is usually carried out in pure steam.

Pure liquid heat treatments, particularly dye treatments which are carried out in many different ways on roller skids, result much more often in difierent treatment results at the end and at the beginning of a length of material than treatments with a large bath content in the foulard vat, since the application of the treating substance and the fixing treatment in a single process in the liquid, require a'much larger volume of the treating liquid. It has already been suggested that in order to eliminate these large volumes of liquid in devices similar to roller skids, displacement bodies should be used so as to lower the volume of the liquid in the charge. However, this procedure was found notto be adequate to eliminate the danger of a strong difference in end effects when longer lengths are being treated. Furthermore, at the end of each treatment there remains a large amount of unused treating liquid.

An object of the present invention is to eliminate these drawbacks.

Other objects will become apparent in the course of the following specification.

The present invention is based in part upon a discovery acquired from a novel approach, namely, that treating liquids, such as dye solutions, exert a considerably stronger treating effect upon the lengths which they treat, when the treating liquid is applied after being'heated separately from the lengths, in the case of aqueous solutions preferably to the boiling point, as compared to the process wherein the treating liquid is applied to the length at a low temperature and then is subjected jointly with the length to a pre-heating and heat treatment in steam.

An important subject of the present invention consists of new process requirements which satisfy the above stated principle and result for the first time in easily repeatable and completely uniform treatment results throughout the entire widths of the material and over its entire length.

In accordance with the present invention the new continuous hot liquid treatment produces a substantial increase in reaction effects or, in the case of continuous dyeing, in dye fixing effects by causing the treating liquid which has been heated separately from the material at least tothe boiling point (in case of aqueous solutions) to flow in the same direction as the moving material, as is the case in the traditional application and steaming process, the amount of the flow of the treating liquid being always. adjustable and while maintaining a particularly small ratio of the weight per time unit of the flowing treating unit to that of the moving material. This ratio is about 5:1 to 20:1 for heavy materials and about 10:1 to 30:1 for light materials and those of medium weight. Thus as compared to prior practice of continuous liquid treatment, the present invention provides the smallest possible charge of the treating liquid participating at the same time in the process.

This smallest possible charge of the treating liquid participating at the same time in the process is attained, according to particularly effective embodiment of the present invention, not only by the increased treating temperature, but also in that the treatment of the liquid is divided into separate short sections. Between those sections the common movement of the material being treated and the treating liquid is interrupted. The individual sections of the liquid treatment should preferably have, with respect to the movement of the material, two to five times the amount of the flow length of the individual sections of the liquid treatment. These interruptions are effective by the subsequent effects of the hot liquid treatments during the periods of rest which are introduced in between. These interruptions are even more effective when the material being treated is maintained at the temperature of the heated treating liquid or is even heated to a greater extent between the individual sections of the hot liquid treatments either through a medium surrounding the material or by special heating devices.

In accordance with the present invention it was found particularly advantageous to carry out the above described process steps by providing on the one hand guidings for the material being treated and, on the other hand, for the hot treating liquid which consists in that the material being treated is guided over upper and lower rollers while the treatment of the liquid is limited by cups to curvatures of the material upon the lower guiding rollers and thus upon individual separated sections. The cups are adapted to the curvatures of the material and have only a small cross section for the liquid.

According to a different embodiment this construction limiting the treatments by hot liquid to lower curved parts of the material can be changed by an application to only those parts of the material which extend over upper rollers by carefully operated stationary hanging strips.

The process of the present invention of alternating and stepwise combined hot baths and freely guided hot treatments and of the particularly small guiding lengths for the treating liquid which are made possible thereby, results by comparison, for example, with the so-called Williams Unit, in a diminution of the volume of treating liquid located directly upon the application location to 5 to percent. Thus the surprising effect of this heat liquid treatment of the present invention is that practically volume values of pure impregnation application devices are attained. As compared with prior art use of the Williams Unit, the important drawbacks of bath impoverishment are already eliminated at the beginning of the application of the treating substance, the drawbacks in the caseof continuing dyeings consisting of differences in end appearances which continuously appear in the case of long lengths and of a noticeable loss of a remaining large residual bath. I

In accordance with the present invention there is duration of treatment diminished and thus the amount of the treating liquid used as a charge further diminished. If it is absolutely desired to continue to work at normal atmospheric pressure, then water as solvent is replaced by high boiling solvents as carriers of the treating liquid, whereby the bath is selectively held at a temperature of 120-l60C. It is also within the present invention to keep the bath at a temperature of 150-200C, depending upon the type of the textile material being processed, and thereby, for example, to combine the dyeing process with the stabilization (fixing) of the structure of the material.

A further advantageous and important embodiment of the process of the present invention consists in that during the flow of the treating liquid through the process, particularly in view of the flow speeds which are often quite small, an efiective and if possible complete balance of the treating substance concentration transversely to the direction of flow of the process, takes place without affecting the flow, continuously,

i.e. either all the time or from time to time, but suffi another advantageous possibility to effectively support the direct action of the hot treating liquid and thus to effectively limit the necessary lengths of liquid flows and thusthe charge of the treating liquid which participates in the process at the same'time. This possibility consists in that the process of the above described hot liquid treatments are amplified by a squeezing taking place after a substantial drop in the liquid content at the end of the last liquid action, depending upon the structure of the material, to about 70-200 percent, and a pure heat standing treatment in steam or another gaseous medium. The pure heat standing treatment should continue for at least twice the length of time required for the passage of the material through the liquid treatment.

In accordance with the present invention a further advantageous amplification of the process consists in that the material being treated is heated to a temperature of about 100-120C during its entry into the treatment device, i.e. prior to moving into the already hot treating liquid or prior to the application of the liquid. The effect of this additional treatment is further increased when the heating is suitably combined with the removal of air from the material being treated. These two steps substantially diminish the duration of the action of the treating medium and thus diminish the entire time of treatment.

The heating of the treating liquid to the best possible treating temperature is preferably'amplified during its flow through the individual heating sections by additional heating means which are directly connected with containers which hold the'flowing heating liquid.

When aqueous solutions are used as treating liquids at normal atmospheric pressure, as already stated, they are used at boiling temperature or at least close to the boiling temperature.

An important advantage of the process of the present invention becomes apparent when higher treating temperatures are used. At such temperatures'the treating effects'can be further considerably strengthened, the

and thus of the treating substances is not uniform, this.

cannot repaired. However, the above described process provides that the uniformity of the treatment over the entire width of the material is always secured for all practical purposes.

This concentration balance transverse to the direction of movement of the material isembodied in a particularly effective construction when the treating liquid is removed in sufficient amounts on both sides of the length of material moving through the process from the part of the flow of the treating liquid which is not participating in treating the material, the removaltaking place continuously or being repeated at adequate time intervals. The removed liquid is mixed with the remaining part of the flowing liquid. Preferably the mixing takes place in such manner thatv a light flow component is set in the range of the two ends of the width of the length of the material, the flow extending outwardly from the edges. I

This arrangement successfully prevents the effect of higher treating liquid concentrations from the parts of the treating liquid which sometimes did not participate in the exchange process treating liquid-material within the range of the edges of the material, which, for example, could have resulted during dyeing in adeeper coloring of the edges of the material.

' Preferably the above described balance of the concentration of the treating medium transversely to the direction of movement of the material, preferably along with the distribution of the treating liquid components obtained from the side sections, with respect to the remaining treating liquid, takes place during corresponding frequent interruptions of the continuous liquid treatment and during such an interruption.

The above'des'cribed embodiments of the new hot liquid treating process of the present invention assure an exceptional treating quality of the material and provide a uniformity of treatments over the width of the material and over its starting and finishing sections.

However, the fact remains up to now that the treated sides extensively determine the extent of the treating effect since at the end of the treatment there remains a predetermined degree of the treating effect.

Surprisingly, it was found that the several steps which increase the absolute treating effects and thus shorten the necessary treatment periods without noticeably limiting the advantages which were obtained before,

make it possible to adjust the selected initial concentration of the treating substance relatively to the treatment periods in such manner that at the end of each treatment period there is a substantial exhaustion of the treating substance or an extract of the dye to a residue of below 20 percent.

The invention will appear more clearly from the following detailed description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, showing, by way of example only, preferred embodiments of the inventive idea.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the drop of dye content in the treating liquid as a function of the treating time;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic side view of a device for carrying out the process of the present invention having upper and lower guide rollers for the material;

F IG. 3 is a side view, partly in section, showing a special construction of the lower guide rollers and the arrang'ement of devices for the transverse mixing of the treating liquid to balance the concentration of the treating substance.

FIG. 1 illustrates the characteristic diminution of a dye concentration during a continuous dyeing of a fabric of synthetic fibers in a boiling aqueous dye solution. Obviously the time periods indicated herein can be considerably shortened when the operation takes place at temperatures of 150l 60C with a highly boiling solvent as treating liquid.

Such a process embodiment provides, in addition to above described advantages, the possibility of perfect reproduction since variations in the treatment period have no influence upon the extent of the treatment effect.

This variant of the process can be attained in a particularly easy manner if a constant amount of the treating substance is provided from the charge of the section being treated to each unit of length of the material and if this unit of the material and corresponding amount of treating substance are maintained in a specific relationship throughout the treating process.

The above description sets forth a continuous liquid treating process of the present invention with extensive uniform movement of the material being treated and the treating substance, the process, on the one hand, having the same arrangement as the process wherein the treating medium is applied, on the other hand, being characterized by the greatest possible withdrawal or exhaustion of the treating substance from the treating liquid which, as far as can be attained, takes place from the entry of the first length units of a piece and up to the departure of its final end.

Careful considerations and experiments-have shown that it is possible to attain a uniform movement of the material and of an amount of a treating substance which is continuously related to it from the beginning of a treating process, even when the material moves the treating process, on the one hand, the sum of the product of the concentration of the treating substance and of the treating liquid flowing in the same direction but not necessarily with the same speed and, on the other hand, the treating substance which has been already applied to the material or was exhausted by completed treatment. This requirement can be very well attained in actual practice by a corresponding selection of cross sections of the flow, of the speeds of flow of the liquid, of the concentrations of the treating substance and its relation to the values of the required treating time for the material and the values of the speed of movement of the material which follow therefrom.

On the. basis of the above principles, it is possible to attain with very good results, particularly for the treatment of lighter materials, speed ratios between the material and the treating liquid of 5:1 and more, while retaining all basic features of the process of the present invention. It is advantageous to set from the beginning of the production the attained characteristics of the concentration withdrawal during the treating process in individual sections of the treatment, as has been described already.

A particularly advantageous special embodiment of the process of the present invention occurs when there is a completely uniform movement of the material and of the treating liquid. In that case, not only the lengths of the treated material are related to constant amounts of the flowing treating substance, but also constant amounts of the treating liquid flowing with the same speed as that of the material. This process can start with the first few meters of the length of material. It does not'require any special inflow devices to maintain a balance between the length of material and the treating liquid since it is present from the very beginning.

This advantageous special process is particularly useful for heavy materials, such as heavy furniture coverings and specially for carpets. In this refining treatment, comparatively small production speeds are used.

A device for carrying out the process of the present invention can be provided with a row of horizontally arranged upper guiding rollers and a corresponding row of lower guiding rollers in the usual alternating arrangement. However, it is also possible to use a stationary device for guiding hanging loops of material with corresponding driving and steering means, the device having comparatively small free cross sections for receiving the treating liquid, as well as overflows between the individual treating containers which are adjustable in height and are so constructed that a uniform flow of the treating liquid can be set to correspond to the movement of the material and that a corresponding regulation of the amount of the flowing liquid can take place.

The free guide for the material over the upper guiding rollers should be surrounded by a closed casing which can be filled at will with saturated or overheated steam or with air having a high temperature. Heating bodies for the additional heating of the material can be built into the casing having a free guiding for the material, whereby a specific construction of these heating bodies consists in making the upper guiding rollers as contact heaters.

A device having the form of an entry chamber is preferably located in front of the main part of the device for special continuous treatment with the hot liquid, the chamber being used for heating and deaerating the material prior to its introduction into the already hot treating liquid.

The cup-shaped containers for the reception and flow of the treating liquid are provided at their outer circumference with additional heating means which are preferably heated at will with steam, hot water or highboiling heating liquids.

It was found advantageous to provide the cup-shaped containers for the reception and flow of the treating liquid with devices producing a strong whirl of the hot treating liquid transversely to the direction of movement of the material.

The lower guiding rollers can be provided upon their outer surfaces with grooves or ribs extending preferably in the axial direction.

It is advantageous to provide for the flow of the treating liquid through the treating process, mixing chambers for balancing the concentration of the treating substance transversely to the direction of movement of the material, whirling rollers being located in these chambers for the mixing of the treating liquid.

FIG. 2 of the drawings shows an embodiment of the present invention including a treating chamber 14 which contains the actual treating space and a section 12 located in front of this space in which the length 1 of the material being treated can be heated or subjected to a combined heating and de-aerating treatment before it is moved into the actual treating space. A space is located behind the space S for a pure heat hanging treatment in steam or in immovable hot air. By way of example, in this rear space can also take place a dyeing throughout the entire cross section of a woven or knitted structure or in the individual fiber cross sections. The space 10 can be also used effectively for providing additional heat treatment by ray heaters 6 or contact heaters.

The material 1 is guided through the treating space 5 over upper and lower guiding rollers 7 and 8 over which it moves alternately, the actual liquid heat treatment takes place in the treating space 5. For that purpose, the lower portions of the lower guiding rollers8 are enclosed by cup-shaped vats 3 having small cross sections for receiving the dyeing liquid 2 applied during the turning motion of the material. The vats 3 are provided with overflow channels. The bath flows in the direction of the movement of the material from one vat to the next one, as indicated in FIG. 2. The bath is removed at the end of the chamber 5 for further use, preparation or the like. A heating device 4 is firmlyconnected with the vats 3 and is used continuously to maintain the liquid 2 at the desired treating temperature, which for liquids consisting of aqueous solutions is preferably 100 to 103C, corresponding to the prevailing boiling point, while for high boiling solventsthe temperature is between 120 and 200C.

The upper part of the treating space 5 contains the rollers 7.' Stripping rollers 13 are located between the rollers 7 and 8 and are used to prevent the material from carrying excessive amounts of the liquid. A

squeezing roller 9 is located at the end of the treating space 5 as a substitute for a roller 13. The roller 9 puts an end 'to the large amounts of liquid carried by the material. After the-roller 9, there gaseous solvent, the heating bodies 6 located between the rollers 7 and 8, which may be ray heaters, provide the desired additional heat transmission by heat radiation If desired, the upper rollers 7 can be also constructed as cylindrical contact heaters.

If the apparatus is used to treat materials having a sensitive structure, such as silk, plush, carpets, etc., then the squeezing roller 9 should operate only very lightly. Then after the material has left the space 10, it is subjected to a strong moisture removal by a suction deviceon a doctor blade 11. The residual amounts of the treating liquid which are then removed can be used again after a corresponding concentration control and eventual preparation. I

FIG. 3 shows a device which in principle is similar to that of FIG. 2. However, FIG. 3 shows a mixing chamber 18 located between the lower reversing rollers 17 and used to provide a transverse application of the treating liquid over the width of the material. For that purpose, as shown in FIG. 3, a whirling roller 19 can be used. However, obviously other suitable means can be used, such as steam jets or the like. Those mixing chambers 18, used to continuously provide a new mixing 'of the treating liquid, canbe also provided at the end of each treating vat 3 or be arranged between groups each 1 of which has a suitable number of treating vats.

FIG. 3 also shows a special construction of the lower rollers 17 immersing into the liquid. As shown, the rollers 17 are provided with longitudinal grooves in order to improve the penetration of the material with the treating liquid. The grooves may be replaced with a circumference of wavy shape or other means can be provided which assure that the treating liquid penetrates thoroughly into the material.

I claim: I

1. An apparatus for the continuous refining of lengths of materials, including textiles, comprising in combination, a casing having a front section, a treating chamber and an outlet section, upper and lower rollers located in .said casing for transmitting a length of material from said front section to said treating chamber and through said treating chamber to said outlet section, means located in said front section for preliminarily heating and de-aerating said material, semi-cylindrical cups enclosing lower parts of some of the lower rollers in said treating section and adapted to receive a treating liquid, means heating said cups, heating means in said treating chamber for heating the upper rollers therein, means connected with said cups and forming mixing chambers for causing a flow of the treating liquid transversely to the direction of movement of the material, whirling rollers located in said mixing chambers, and means regulating the flow of the treating liquid. 

1. An apparatus for the continuous refining of lengths of materials, including textiles, comprising in combination, a casing having a front section, a treating chamber and an outlet section, upper and lower rollers located in said casing for transmitting a length of material from said front section to said treating chamber and through said treating chamber to said outlet section, means located in said front section for preliminarily heating and de-aerating said material, semi-cylindrical cups enclosing lower parts of some of the lower rollers in said treating section and adapted to receive a treating liquid, means heating said cups, heating means in said treating chamber for heating the upper rollers therein, means connected with said cups and forming mixing chambers for causing a flow Of the treating liquid transversely to the direction of movement of the material, whirling rollers located in said mixing chambers, and means regulating the flow of the treating liquid. 